A collection of photographs and bits of information about
everyday life (especially on the move) in pre-industrial times,
gathered on a 'field trip' to a Living History Mediaeval Pageant.

Two general views of the camp site, showing the forest
of guy ropes.

On the table are various wooden plates and a leather bottle lined
with pitch (the object that looks like a little cat). I asked
whether pitch made the drink taste. The woman said no: you can
taste wood and metal, but not pitch!

In some places the tents had been grouped together and wooden
hurdles used to stop people entering the private areas.

The canvas tents came in various sizes but were generally oval
in plan, consisting of a rectangular central section and two rounded
ends. The ends were typically curtained off to form separate rooms.
Some of the tents were dyed in bright colours, but one of the
women told me that mediaeval dyes were not light-fast so tents
were also painted. The canvas is heavy and, when packed up, the
tents are quite bulkyabout the size and weight of a woman!so
a cart would have been required to transport them.

The interior of one of the poorer tents. The wall is stained
with damp (I saw quite a lot of mould). The floor is covered with
sacking, rush matting and furs. The furniture consists mainly
of chests of various sizes, which are used for storage and also
as tables and work surfaces. The tiny chest of drawers at the
centre of the picture contains incense, which was burned to ward
off evil. The tables come apart for transporting. The jug and
ewer (standing on the table) are used for washing.

Another view of the same tent, showing the painted curtain
that forms the bedroom. The spherical object is a lantern. The
owner told me that lighting the candles at dusk keeps the damp
out of the tent.

The bedroom of a richer tent. The tiny white objects on
the bed posts are pegs. These pull out so that the bed frame can
be taken apart for carrying. The base of the bed consisted of
wooden slats, and there seemed to be no mattress!

Tent poles. I was told that no one knows exactly how the
tents were constructed. This cartwheel arrangement is commonly
used today. The small spherical object in the centre is an incense
burner; the objects hanging at the sides are lanterns. The one
on the left is made from thin slices of (translucent) cow horn.
(Lanthorn).

Two views of a very rich tent, showing wall hangings of
a thick woollen fabric, woven in a pattern of red and gold. The
hangings form a double wall, like double glazing. A row of chests,
made from fine woods, stands along the back of the tent and various
household objectscandles, small chests, pots, plates and
knivesare arranged on top. I asked if that was authentic
and the owner said he didn't know, but it was practical...

This tent belonged to the Captain of a Regiment of soldiers (and
his wife). The bed was in the room to the right of the main area.
The room to the left was arranged as a study.

Another tent, showing the back of a writing slope
(the low box in the centre, below the two jugs). The owner showed
me two paper weights (pieces of flat, carved stone that hang from
cords down the surface of the slope to hold sheets of parchment
in place), a quill pen and a long, narrow-bladed pen knife
for cutting nibs. The gabled chest to the left is a reliquary,
which would have contained religious items (somebody described
it to me as a portable altar). I'm not sure if it would
have contained a Bible at this timeperhaps a Book of Hours?

The ewers and bowl in the background were glazed in an elaborate
pattern of cream and pale green, and the owner said they were
Majolica ware, and would have been imported from Italy.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the lady who was preparing
the food! She had a large open fire over which she was boiling
water (for tea!they were all, very apologetically, drinking
tea), eggs and a ham. Her table was laid out with various breads
(mostly dark and close-textured and containing seeds or chopped
onions or dried fruit), soft cheeses (some of them flavoured with
herbs, others blue), dried fruits, herbs and spices. She showed
me some powder fort (a mixture of peppers, used with meat)
and powder douce (used for sweets). Her daughter was making
sweet pasties, filled with dried fruits and honey, which she said
would be fried over the fire.

Two ladies eating.

The mess tent (with a barrel of ale).

Two views of the wise woman's table, showing the
ingredients used for making various salves. The blossoms on the
right are elderflower, used for cleansing. The bowl beside
them contains petals, which have been removed from the stems because
'the green bits taste bitter'.

The flat box at the back of the table contains a set of tiny
scales. The basket to its right holds lumps of chalk, which would
have been ground up to treat stomach complaints. The small jars
are filled with various medicinal herbs, including caraway seeds
for digestive complaints, because 'They ate a lot of red meat
and suffered badly from indigestion. 'The basket and bowl to the
left contain two types of camomilehay, for stuffing pillows
to help sleep; and flowers for making a soothing tea and for adding
to salves. The wooden pots contain various salves, made from a
mixture of oil and wax and the appropriate herbs. The earthenware
jars are sealed with corks and made airtight with a piece of leather.
The wise woman thought that people would have brought their own
pots and jars to be filled with whatever they needed. The two
cups (centre right) are made from cow's horn.

A photograph of the lovely archer, who told me all sorts
of lore about mediaeval archery. On the very left of the picture,
you can just see the end of his long bow, which is unstrung.

Bow strings must have broken very easily. A bow would typically
have had two strings attached—the archer would have had another
string to his bow so that he could quickly remove the broken
one and replace it. He would have had another kept under his
hat (to stop it getting wet). (None of this, of course, applies
to Legolas, because an elven bow is kept strung at all times and
its string never breaks). Archers arrived with their own bows
and about 50 arrows (which would have lasted approximately four
minutes) but had an enormous support team, who worked behind the
lines keeping them supplied with new strings, new bows (if they
snapped), and, of course, arrows.

A good bowyer could make a bow in two and a half hours! But
it was illegal for him to work after dark, in case he made mistakes
because he couldn't see properly.

A selection of arrowheads. The big one on the extreme
left is designed to injure horses (and is probably the type that
was used to kill Banduil in The lady vanishes). The arrow
beside it has a tiny fire basket, which would have been stuffed
with a bit of cloth soaked in something flammable. The long, thin
head (to the right) was designed to pierce chain mail (and examples
have apparently been found buried several inches deep in oak doors).
The crescent-shaped tip was also used against horses, and for
poaching. All arrows were designed to spin as they flew through
the air, because (like a bullet shot from a rifled gun) it makes
them more accurate and increases their range. The spinning crescent
tip would have done a lot of damage but could easily be removed
from the carcase. ('People didn't travel much in those days and
smiths would put a maker's mark on their arrow heads. So if you
left an arrow behind, and the gamekeeper found it, all he had
to do was take it to the local smith and say, "Who's been
having these made?".') The rounded wooden tip (far right)
was used for practice ('If you can shoot one of those you can
shoot anything') and for stunning game.

The white substance towards the top centre of the picture is
archer's wax.

English archers had a special salute! Because the French
typically cut the fingers off any archer they captured, English
archers would apparently raise two fingers to their enemies, as
a sign of contempt.